The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 65, No. 19, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 12, 1978 Page: 5 of 8
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Tom Taylor revives Woody Guthrie at Reunion Theater
Woody Guthrie is alive and
well and living at Reunion
Theater. He is as ornery and
cantankerous as ever. He
sings as few men or women
have ever sung. His voice is
not sweet or melodious. He has
no sequins on his costume and
his sound equipment consists
of a simple acoustic guitar
and a harmonica. No slick
promoter would ever sign him
to a contract — no gimmick.
Yet his songs are full of the
poetry of the ordinary people
as they struggle to feed their
children, of bums who ride
from town to town on freight
trains, and of farmers who are
trying to keep the sheriff from
evicting them from their
homes. In short he sings about
the people who have not been
able to participate in the
American dream.
Of course the real Woody
Gutherie died in 1967 of
Huntington's chorea, penni-
less and alone in a Brooklyn
hospital, but Tom Taylor, a
native Houstonian, has
brought him back to life in a
one man show now playing at
Reunion Theater.
Taylor's performance is
quite nearly flawless. Having
researched Guthrie's life and
music for his master's thesis at
the University of Texas, he
has compressed the quin-
tessential features of one of
America's great folk poets into
a mere 90 minutes. His voice is
tiny and untutored and his
guitar technique simple. He
deals with his audience in an
unpretentious, almost impro-
visational manner.
Walking around the tiny
stage with his guitar slung
around his shoulder, he takes
us through Guthrie's life, not
as a historian but rather as a
painter. Using Guthrie's own
stories and anecdotes, he
portrays him growing up in
Oklahoma during the years of
the Dust Bowl. He tells of the
death of his sister, who was
fatally burned when a
kerosene stove exploded in
their home, and how his
mother subsequently died in
an insane asylum. He relates
how Guthrie had to leave
home to find work because the
heat and the dust destroyed all
of the crops. Episode quickly
follows episode, some
including songs, some not,
some humorous, some deadly
serious, but none designed to
elicit pity. He simply relates
the incidents as Guthrie
himself might have done,
without adornment.
Everyone who sees this
show will undoubtedly have a
favorite section. For me,
however, it was Taylor's
depiction of Guthrie's
encounters with a radio
station in Los Angeles. The
lights come up on Taylor
standing at a microphone,
talking at breakneck speed. He
is explaining that he only has
a fifteen minute program and
Student to work
part-time
Must have exper-
ience In Row-crop
farming
Good pay
523-0097
Mellow European
Restaurant needs part-
time waiters &
waitresses
Flexible hours
Good Pay
2347 University
667-7565
Houston Grand £
( nnisi!
presents
AIDA
by Guiseppe Verdi
Sung in English
Jones Hall, 615 Louisiana
Monday, Jan. 23, 7:30pm
Student half-price seats
available from $1.25 Balcony
to $5 front Orchestra
For tickets, call Houston Ticket
Center, 227-3625
Come see this grandest of grand
operas with magnificent music,
and the pomp and splendor of
the famous Triumphal March!
A classic opera you shouldn't miss!
that all of the listeners should
send cards and letters to the
station requesting that his
show be extended to thirty
minutes because he has a lot to
say. What Guthrie has to say
is important. At a slightly
decelerated rate he tells his
audience that in order to find
work and earn enough money
to pay the mortgage they
should join the unions. He
then starts to sing that Jesus
was a good union man
crucified by bankers and
preachers. At that point his
microphone goes dead.
Guthrie looks up at the
imaginary control booth and,
in the only passionate
outburst of the entire evening
screams that he will continue
to fight for the poor and the
starving if he has to sing on
a street corner. He shouts that
his program should be put
back on the air but that he has
not begged for anything in his
entire life and does not intend
to beg for this. After a few
seconds of silence the
microphone is turned back on.
His listeners did write those
cards and letters and he
announces slowly and
deliberately that his program
has been extended to thirty
minutes.
Guthrie was not a political
animal, although he flirted
with Communism and was a
staunch advocate of labor
unions. If his views corres-
ponded with those espoused by
the Communists he was more
than happy to work with them
because he felt that they were
fighting for just causes.
Inevitably this attitude led to
many unpleasant encounters
with those governmental
agencies set up to guard this
country from the Red ho rds.
Guthrie did not back down.
As he maintained so many
times, he only wrote and sang
what he saw and heard. The
people were the real poets.
Tom Taylor has captured,
without fanfare and fireworks,
the strength and sensitivity of
this great American folk poet.
It is a lesson in history and
humanity, as well as a
superior theater event.
—ajax
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Kir by
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the rice thresher, january 12, 1978-page 5
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Parker, Philip. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 65, No. 19, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 12, 1978, newspaper, January 12, 1978; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245356/m1/5/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.